Managing Resource Requests

On the Resource Request record page, you can hold and unhold, assign and unassign, shortlist, pin, and compare resources. You can also manage the schedules of resources within your process, and preview the effects of the changes on a resource's allocations before you assign the work to them. This enables you to quickly identify the ideal resource who also has the capacity to do work that fits into their existing schedule.

Tip:

We recommend using intelligent staffing to filter and rank resources. The Intelligent Staffing engine reduces the time and manual effort involved in finding suitable resources to assign to resource requests. Intelligent staffing considers the Role, RPG, skill ratings, availability of a resource, Worked With Customer, and any custom filter fields. Resources are automatically ranked in the results. To set up and use intelligent staffing, see Intelligent Staffing for a Resource Request.

Filtering Resources

When you click , the Filters panel opens and enables you to filter resources using the following default filters:

• Region, Practice, and Group (RPG)
• Include Sub-RPGs
• Start Date
• End Date
• Last Worked
• Maximum Distance
• Distance Unit
• Minimum Availability (%)
• Minimum Work Duration
• Resource
• Resource Role
• Display Only Shortlisted Resources
• Exclude Other Shortlists
• Skills
• Worked With Customer

The Filters panel is automatically configured with criteria that match the resource request. This means that the most relevant resources are displayed when you first open the Resource Request record page. Shortlisted, pinned, held, assigned, interested, and suggested resources are displayed alongside the resources who match the filter criteria. For more information, see Filters Panel Fields.

The cell value is bolded and is displayed when a resource matches any of the following filters:

• RPG and Include Sub-RPG
• Resource Role
• Worked with Customer
• Some custom fields added by an administrator

Note:

The Apply, Clear, and Reset buttons are displayed dynamically as you take actions in the Filters panel on the Resource Request record page. The following are the scenarios that determine how these filter buttons function:

• When you reload the record page, the Clear button is displayed in the drop-down list to clear the existing filters. The existing filters are removed, except the Start Date and End Date fields.
• After clearing the filter values, the Reset button is displayed in the drop-down list. The filter values are reset to the default values and the Clear button is displayed.
• When you make any changes to the filter values, Apply, Clear, and Reset buttons are displayed. The Apply button filters the resource request records. The Clear and Reset buttons are displayed alternatively.

Filtering a List of Resources

To filter resources:

1. [Optional] In the Resource field, enter at least one character from the name of the resource. Resources associated with an account beginning with the same characters as those you enter for the resource name search are also returned in any results.
2. [Optional] Select one or more roles from the Resource Role field.
3. [Optional] In the Region field, enter the name of the region that you want to add.
4. [Optional] After entering two or more characters, click Show All Results for " ". The Select Region window opens with the searched string in the search field, and all the related items are displayed in the grid. You can amend the search term if required.
5. [Optional] Select the region from the grid.
6. Click Select to add the region to the Region field.
7. [Optional] For the Practice and Group fields, repeat steps 3-5 to add the relevant practice and group.
8. [Optional] Deselect the relevant sub-RPG checkbox if required. The sub-RPG checkboxes are selected by default. Deselect the relevant checkbox to only see resources that match the region, practice, or group.

9. [Optional] Select "Yes", "No", or "No Preference" in the Worked With Customer field. The Worked with Customer column is only displayed in the grid when "Yes" or "No" is selected. When "Yes" is selected in the Worked With Customer field, you can:

   • [Optional] Select the minimum duration of work in the Minimum Work Duration field.
   • [Optional] Select when the resource last worked for the customer in the Last Worked field.

Filtering Resources by Skills or Certifications

To filter resources by skills, certifications, or skill sets:

1. [Optional] From the Skills and Certification section, select Consider Expiration Date to exclude resources with certifications that expire before the date specified in the End Date field of the filter.
2. Click Edit. The Edit Skills and Certifications window opens.
3. In the Skills Selection section, select "Skill or Certification" or "Skill Set" from the drop-down. By default, "Skill or Certification" is selected.
4. Enter the name of the skill, certification, or skill set that you want to add.
5. [Optional] After entering two or more characters, click Show All Results for " ". The Select Skill or Certification window opens with the searched string in the search field, and all the related items are displayed in the grid. You can amend the search term if required.

6. Select the skill, certification, or skill set you want to add. The added skills and certifications are separated into drop-down lists of skill sets and individual skills and certifications.

   Notes:

   Each skill or certification can only be added once.

7. [Optional] Click a suggested skill to add it to the resource request.

8. [Optional] Do one of the following:

   • Leave All Essential Skills selected if you want the resource to have all the added essential skills.
   • Select Any Essential Skill if you want the resource to have any one of the added essential skills.

9. [Optional] To edit the minimum rating or a skill importance, do one of the following:

   • Double-click the cell or select the cell and press Enter on your keyboard, then select an option from the picklist.
   • Select the checkboxes of the skills or certifications you want to simultaneously edit, then select the Update Selected Items checkbox and click Apply.
   Note:

   If you select Desirable for the skill importance, the minimum rating will default to --None-- and is not editable.

10. [Optional] To remove skills or certifications, do one of the following:

    • Click | Remove Skill to remove the skill or certification, or Remove Skill Set the skill set that a skill or certification belongs to.
    • Select checkboxes of the skills or certifications you want to remove, then click .
    • Click a suggested skill to remove it.
11. Click Apply to update the list of resources using the skills filter criteria specified.

Notes:

• To show the Skill Importance column, your administrator must select the Enable Desirable Skills setting on the Skills Management custom setting. For more information, see Skills Management Settings.
• If you deselect all the skills in a skill set, the entire skill set gets removed from the Skills section.
• If you deselect a skill under the Skills and Certifications, that skill is removed from the Skills section.
• If you deselect all the skills in the Skills and Certifications, the entire Skills and Certifications section gets removed from the Skills section.
• The Consider Expiration Date checkbox is not visible when no skills are added under the Skills and Certifications section.

Filtering a List of Resources by Maximum Distance

Note:

To filter by maximum distance, you must ensure that the Show Distance Filter checkbox is selected in the Resource Filter panel of Lightning App Builder for the PSA Resourcing component and your administrator must assign you permissions for the Distance fields. This is deselected by default.

You can use the Distance fields in the filter panel of the Resource Request page to filter the resources by the maximum distance. For more information on distance fields, see Resourcing Lightning Component Properties.

Match Settings cannot be configured for the Distance fields. For more information, see Managing Resource Requests.

To filter resources:

1. Click . The Filter panel displays.
2. In the Maximum Distance field, enter a positive number. For example, 120.

3. In the Distance Unit field, select one of the following from the picklist.

   • Kilometer (km)
   • Miles (mi)
4. Click Apply to display the list of filtered resources. You can view the distances of resources from the work location in the Distance column. The distances of the locations of these resources from the resource request location is less than or equal to the specified distance.

Notes:

• Suggested, held, assigned, and pinned resources continue to appear at the top of the list of resources, even when the resources are filtered by maximum distance.
• If the Maximum Distance and Distance Unit fields are left blank on the Resource Request page, in that case, on the filter panel, Maximum Distance and Distance Unit fields will show the default values specified in the Lightning App Builder properties. If a value is specified on the Resource Request page, it will take priority over the default values in the Lightning App Builder properties.
• The resources without a mailing address for whom distance is not calculated are displayed at the bottom of the grid.
• The Distance column on the grid will not be visible when the distance values for all resources are null. This happens when all contacts have no mailing address or the longitude and latitude coordinates are blank on the Resource Request. The longitude and latitude coordinates might be blank on the Resource Request page because the Work Address fields are left blank. In this case, you can view a message. Update the Work Address fields and wait for the process to complete. This is an asynchronous process, so it might take some time. Refresh the page to view the updated values in the Distance column.

Switching Views

You can open the different views using the view switcher.

The Resourcing tab contains the following views for your matched resources:

• Attributes: Shows various resource attributes, such as their status on the request, region, role, and cost rate that you can use in your identification of the ideal resource for the request.
• Scheduler: Shows the resource request's time period, and the assignments and resource requests that the matched resource are held or assigned to within the period. You can quickly reschedule the assignments and resource requests by dragging them forward or backward to change their start and end dates.
• Allocation: Shows the number of scheduled hours each matched resource is due to work on existing assignments or resource requests, and indicates if a resource is allocated within the planned allocation range, under allocated, or over allocated.

Your administrator can set the default view. For more information, see the Default View field in Resourcing Lightning Component Properties.

Viewing Resource Details

When you click , the Resource Details panel opens and enables you to view details about the selected resource. The header section displays the resource's image, name, and role.

You can also view an AI-generated summary of the selected resource. For more information, see PSA Resource AI Summaries Overview.

For information about the Resource Details panel, see Resource Details Panel Overview.

Note:

To view a resource's details on the contact card from the Contact Lightning record page, an administrator must have assigned you the PSA - View Resource permission set.

For more information about the custom Lightning components available, including adding them to your Lightning record page and customizing them, see PSA Lightning Components.

Viewing Details from a Contextual Menu

To view the details of an assignment or resource request using a contextual menu:

In the Allocation view:

1. Open the resource's expandable sections in the Name column.
2. Right-click an assignment or resource request. The contextual menu opens.
3. Click View Details. The details of the assignment or resource request are displayed in a popup panel.

In the Scheduler view:

1. Right-click an assignment or resource request bar. The contextual menu opens.
2. Click View Details. The details of the assignment or resource request are displayed in a popup panel.

Configuring Weighting and Priority Settings

Pinning Resources

You can pin a resource as a reminder that it needs further attention. Pinned resources are identified in all views, and moved to the top of the list, but below suggested or held resources in all views. You can also pin suggested or held resources, but these retain their "Suggested" or "Held" status in the Candidate Type and Status columns respectively.

Pinned resources are:

• Retained at the top of the resource list, even when they do not match new filter criteria.
• Displayed each time you access the same resource request on the same computer, using the same browser.

To pin or unpin a resource:

1. Select a resource from the Resource list and click . An icon displays in the first column of the row to indicate that the selected resource is pinned.
2. Click to remove the selected resource as a pinned user.

Shortlisting Resources

Shortlisting enables collaborative decision-making in the process of identifying the most suitable resource to be assigned to a resource request. For example, a resource manager can compile a list of shortlisted resources to highlight them as suitable candidates for the request. They might want to share the new shortlist with a project manager who can add information for each resource in the Manage Shortlist window, then return the shortlist to the resource manager to make the final decision on the ideal resource to hold or assign.

With shortlisting, you can:

• Add multiple resources to a new or existing shortlist.
• Review the shortlisted candidates in the Manage Shortlist window by updating their status and adding accompanying notes. You can create custom fields that allow you to provide further supporting information within the Manage Shortlist window.
• Duplicate a shortlist and its related records to one or more other resource requests that have similar requirements.

Note:

You need the correct permissions to use the shortlisting functionality. Contact your administrator for more information.

Creating Shortlists

To create a shortlist:

1. From any view on the Resourcing tab, select one or more resources.
2. From the Shortlist drop-down, select Add to Shortlist. If there is no existing shortlist, a new one will be created. If a shortlist already exists on the resource request, the resources you added will be merged with the original shortlisted resources.

You can identify shortlisted resources by viewing their status in the Shortlist Status column. The Shortlist Status column is displayed in all views of the Resourcing tab. Selecting the Display Only Shortlisted Resources checkbox in the filters panel returns only shortlisted, pinned, held, assigned, and suggested resources, regardless of the filter criteria. You can also view shortlisted resources by clicking the Shortlist field on the resource request details page, then clicking the Related tab of the shortlist record. For more information, see PSA Resourcing Lightning Component Fields.

Managing Shortlists

To manage a shortlist:

1. From the Resourcing tab on the resource request page, click the Shortlist drop-down and select Manage Shortlist.
2. Enter the appropriate values into the editable fields for each resource.
3. [Optional] Click to remove selected resources from the shortlist.
4. Click Save.

You can tailor the Manage Shortlist window to your company's needs by selecting a field set from the Manage Shortlist Custom Fields Field Set Lightning component property. This imports custom fields that you can create on the Shortlist Resource object. For example, you might want to create a picklist field to set a list of reasons for rejecting a shortlisted resource. By default, the fields in the Manage Shortlist window are Name and Status. For more information, see Manage Shortlist Fields and Resourcing Lightning Component Properties.

Duplicating Shortlists

To duplicate a resource request's shortlist to one or more other resource requests:

1. On the Actions tab, click Duplicate Shortlist. The Duplicate Shortlist window opens.

2. In the Duplicate to Resource Requests field, search for resource requests using part or all of their name or number:

   • Click Show All Results for " " to perform an advanced search.
   • The search displays only resource requests that do not have a shortlist linked to them.
   • The search does not display resource requests that have a status of "Assigned" or "Canceled".
3. When you have selected your resource requests, click Duplicate.

The new shortlist is a copy of the original one, except for the status of shortlist resources. By default, a status of "Pending" is applied to all shortlist resources on the new shortlist, regardless of the same resources' statuses on the original shortlist. An administrator can customize the default statuses of the shortlist resources.

Note:

If the Show Duplicate Shortlist action is not visible on the Actions tab, contact your administrator.

Viewing Other Shortlists

In the Allocation view, you can view how a resource's other commitments might impact the resource request you want to staff. To view any unheld resource requests that a resource has been shortlisted for, expand the resource's details and open the Other Shortlists section.

You can hide the Other Shortlists section by clicking the Exclude Other Shortlists checkbox in the Filters panel.

If you cannot see this section or the checkbox, or if you think other shortlists need to be shown, contact your administrator.

Comparing Resources

When you click Compare in any view, the Compare Resources window opens, where you can consider the details of up to three selected resources. This enables you to see relevant information before making a decision to hold, unhold, or assign a resource to the resource request. Matched skills and certifications also display in the Compare Resources window.

Note:

Your administrator can specify custom fields for the Compare Resources window. If your administrator has not specified custom fields, the Resource Role, Region, Practice, and Group fields are shown by default. If you cannot see these fields, contact your administrator.

Managing Schedules of Resources

Your administrator can set the default scheduling strategy. For more information, see the Default Scheduling Strategy section in Resourcing Lightning Component Properties. You can override the strategy for the resource request and see its effects on the schedule of a selected resource.

When the start or end dates in the filter panel are updated, the schedule created when holding or assigning resources respects those dates, not the start and end dates on the resource request.

To view a resource's projected schedule after changing the resource request's scheduling strategy:

1. Select a resource in any view.
2. Click Manage Schedule.

3. Select a strategy from the Scheduling Strategy picklist to update the resource request's schedule. The Projected Start Date and Projected End Date fields display how this altered schedule affects the resource request for the selected resource. These dates are calculated using the selected scheduling strategy and the original start and end dates from the filter criteria.

   The scheduling strategy value is reset when you either close the Resource Request page or reload your browser.

   If you select the Custom scheduling strategy, do the following:

   1. Enter the hours you want in the Daily Hours fields. The Total hours field is automatically updated as you enter hours.
   2. Click Refresh End Date to update the Projected End Date field and reflect the custom hours you have entered for the schedule.
4. Click Ok to confirm the change to the scheduling strategy.
5. Click Assign or Hold to apply the scheduling strategy.
6. Open the Allocation view to view how the changes affect the resource's schedule.

Updating the Hours a Resource is Scheduled to Work

Note:

To update values on the Allocation view, your administrator must have assigned you the correct permissions.

To update the number of hours a resource is scheduled to work:

1. Select Allocation from the button menu and check the zoom level is set to Days, Weeks, or Months.
2. Navigate to the relevant date. If the date you want is not displayed, select and apply the appropriate date range using the Filters panel.
3. Double-click the value you want to change.
4. Type the new value and press Enter.
5. [Optional] Repeat Steps 3 and 4 to update other values in the Allocation view.
6. [Optional] If you change your mind, click then Discard and Continue to return to the last saved state.
7. Click Save.

Copying Schedule Values

You can drag a cell or range of cells to copy their contents to other cells in the grid. This enables you to extend or shorten multiple schedules associated with assignments or resource requests. This feature can be used when cell values are displayed as hours and as percentages.

To extend or shorten the schedules associated with assignments or resource requests:

1. Open the Allocation view from the button menu and check the zoom level is set to Days, Weeks, or Months.
2. Click the arrow in the Name column to expand the list of assignments and resource requests.
3. Click and drag the bottom-right corner of one or more cells and drop them into other cells. If you drag more than one cell, the pattern of the cell values will be copied into the corresponding cells accordingly.
4. Click Save.

Tip:

If you drag an assignment or resource request and then change your mind, click to return to the last saved state.

Note:

You cannot use the fill handle in the following scenarios:

• When dragging onto or across cells that are read-only.
• When dragging read-only cells.
• When dragging empty cells to the start or end of a schedule, or past the start or end of a schedule. This would cause the schedule to be removed.
• When dragging empty cells vertically. You can drag empty cells horizontally to shorten the schedule.
• When dragging a combination of empty and populated cells.
• When dragging vertically from one record to another. For example, when you group the data by project, you cannot copy cell values from one project to another.
• When you are in the Quarters or Years view.
• If your administrator has not assigned you the correct permissions.

Holding Resources

You can hold only one resource against a resource request.

When you hold a resource, the following are updated:

• The Resource field is populated with the name of the selected resource on the resource request record and, where present, on the compact layout of the Lightning record page.
• The Resource Held field is selected.
• A new schedule is created if there is no preferred schedule on the resource request, and the Retain Schedule on Hold field is deselected in the Assignment Settings custom setting. For more information, contact your administrator.
• The resource request status is set to "Held."

To hold a resource:

1. Select a resource in any view.
2. [Optional] Click Manage Schedule to select a schedule from the Scheduling Strategy picklist. For information on scheduling strategies, see Scheduling Strategies Overview.

3. Click Hold

   • If the resource request has a preferred schedule, and the Retain Schedule on Hold field is selected in the Assignment Settings custom setting, the preferred schedule is retained. If you don't need this functionality, contact your administrator.
   • If the resource request doesn't have a preferred schedule, and the Retain Schedule on Hold field is deselected in the Assignment Settings custom setting, a schedule is created from your selection in Manage Schedule. If you don't need this functionality, contact your administrator.

Unholding Resources

Unholding a resource removes them from the resource request.

Following a successful unhold, the following are updated:

• The Resource and Preferred Schedule fields are both set to blank on the resource request record.
• The Resource Held field is deselected.
• The resource's status in the Resource list is updated to remove their "Held" value.
• The resource request's status is set to "Draft."
• The previously held resource is no longer at the top of the Resource list.
• The orphaned schedule and any associated schedule exceptions are automatically deleted.
• EVAs associated with the resource request are deleted.

To unhold a resource:

1. Select a resource from the Resource list.
2. Click Unhold.

Assigning Resources

When you assign a resource to a project and create an assignment, the following are updated:

• The Resource, Schedule, and Assignment fields are populated on the resource request record and, where present, on the compact layout of the Lightning record page.
• The Resource Held field is deselected when a resource was previously held against this resource request.

Note:

To assign a resource to a project, you must have the Staffing permission control. For more information, see About Staffing Permission Controls.

You cannot create an assignment for a resource when:

• The resource is not selected.
• The resource request already has an assignment record.
• The Project field on the resource request is blank.
• You do not have the required permissions to access the Project field.

To create an assignment for a resource:

1. Select a resource in the Resource list.
2. [Optional] Click Manage Schedule | Schedule to select a schedule from the Scheduling Strategy picklist. For information on scheduling strategies, see Scheduling Strategies Overview.

3. Click Assign:

   • If the resource request has a preferred schedule, and the Retain Schedule on Assign field is selected in the Assignment Settings custom setting, the preferred schedule is retained. If you don't need this functionality, contact your administrator.
   • If the resource request doesn't have a preferred schedule, and the Retain Schedule on Assign field is deselected in the Assignment Settings custom setting, a schedule is created from your selection in Manage Schedule. If you don't need this functionality, contact your administrator.

Unassigning Resources

You can unassign a resource from a resource request using the Unassign button, located on the Resource Schedule and Resource Grid tabs.

To unassign a resource:

1. Select an assigned resource in the Resource Schedule or Resource Grid.
2. Click Unassign. The selected resource is unassigned from the current resource request and the Unassign button changes to Assign.

This action also removes the assignment from your resource request, and reverts the resource request to a Draft status. Unassigning resource requests also deletes the related schedule information, as well as any Estimate Versus Actuals records.

You can reassign resources to resource requests in your preferred way after unassigning resources.

Note:

To unassign a resource you must have the relevant permissions within the PSA - Staff Resource Requests permission set assigned to your user profile. Contact your administrator for more information.